


The Dagger

by lunaofthemiste



Category: Battle for London in the Air (Roleplay)
Genre: Dungeon Fantasy AU, F/F, Pairing Roulette, enemies to lovers?, fighting a monster that has dialogue, potty mouth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-18 00:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29234784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lunaofthemiste/pseuds/lunaofthemiste
Summary: Two girls, two daggers, one monster - can it be any more obvious?
Relationships: Nori Lynch/Siofra Namuh
Kudos: 2





	The Dagger

Nori Lynch would rather be anywhere else in the world than here. 

The ball the Hazards were hosting, which she had been forced to go to, felt both insincere and over-the-top. She knew the Hazards were making some sort of effort to distract from everything that had been going on in the Low Town and the rest of the city, but she knew that exact topic was on everyone’s minds. The theme they had chosen - a masquerade ball, of all things - was the cherry on top of bad decisions Nori felt they had made. It was bad enough that they were trying to brush things over while there were rumors of a rebellion, it was even worse that they decided _masks_ were the ideal ball garment.

Of course, wearing a mask meant that Nori could walk around the ball without being noticed, which was good. She could spot Davios from the other end of the hall talking with a group of people, the exact opposite of what she wanted to do. Nori had no idea how Davios could celebrate at a time like this, a time when the Hazards, who paid them, basically made them all look like idiots on a job. She had heard the comments and resented them, resented every one of those idiots who thought she missed because of her feminine wiles or some bullshit like that.

Nori was going to prove them wrong.

So she stood on the side of the ballroom and watched like she had been watching for most of the night. A masked ball would be the perfect opportunity for this rebellion to strike. The problem was that Nori didn’t know _how_ they would strike. Was it poison in the drinks? Would it be an all-out assault? Her father had forbidden her from bringing any large weapons to the ball, but at the very least she had a dagger in case she needed to fight for her life. Of course, Ambrose Lynch probably had several weapons on him, but Nori was neither in the mood nor position to argue with him.

While she was looking out for any suspicious figures, a woman caught her eye - half-elf, shorter than her, her white hair braided on top of her head like a sort of crown. She wore a black gown that was tighter at the top and flowed out into a billowing skirt. Her mask was fairly simple compared to the rest of the partygoers, but it matched her ensemble well. It took Nori a second to realize that she was staring, but she quickly looked in another direction, hoping the woman didn’t notice.

Unfortunately, Nori could see in her peripheral vision that the woman was walking towards her. Nori pretended to be very invested in the table next to her with assorted food and drinks so she wouldn’t have to make conversation.

The woman passed Nori on her right side, leaning over to grab one of the tiny morsels of food. She brushed against Nori’s side slightly as she grabbed the food and mumbled an apology as she did so. Nori nodded but didn’t look in the woman’s direction, sighing in relief as she walked away. This whole night would have been better if she had done target practice, or if she had killed something or someone.

She reached for her dagger as she contemplated the target practice, only to realize that the dagger wasn’t there anymore.

It clicked in Nori’s mind that the _woman_ had likely lifted the dagger off of her. No one else had been close to her all night and certainly no one else would have noticed the hilt poking out of the top of the skirt.

But the woman had, which only meant one thing - the woman was either 

  1. Another assassin 
  2. A thief
  3. A rebel
  4. A possible and terrible combination of all of the above.



There was no knowing what else the woman had taken before it was too late.

Nori looked around and saw the woman step out onto the balcony, and quickly made her way to her as gracefully as possible since it would only make things worse if she caused a scene. Once she made her way there, she saw the woman head to the edge of the balcony.

In a matter of seconds, the woman’s whole demeanor and outfit changed. Gone was the presumably polite woman she had seen before. The skirt of the gown had transformed into a cloak, complete now with a hood that she pulled over her head. There was a hilt at her side and knives strapped to her legs, as well as a bag hanging from her belt.

“Stop!” Nori yelled out as she ran towards the woman. She didn’t have any weapons, but she could still put up a fight against a thief if she needed to.

The woman turned and saw Nori, her expression unreadable. She climbed up onto the ledge of the balcony and jumped off before Nori reached her.

When Nori did reach the edge, she looked down for any sight of the woman. Surely, she couldn’t have gone far in a matter of seconds, right?

But she was wrong.

The woman was gone.

* * *

As much as she wanted to think about anything else, the woman on the balcony continued to haunt Nori’s thoughts. The Hazards learned later that the woman, in addition to stealing Nori’s dagger, had stolen several important government documents from one of their offices. No one had seen who had done it, but Nori knew. Something was holding her back from divulging the identity of the mysterious woman, but she wasn’t sure what.

Davios had noticed her preoccupation, as much as Nori wanted to hide it. There was something so innately intriguing about the woman, which she figured was probably just the mystery surrounding her caper. Nori also found that she kept wondering where she might see that woman again, to retrieve her dagger. Without telling Davios too much, she explained her situation so he’d get off of her back. The tabaxi should have been more focused on his own issues than hers, but he tended to treat her like a little sister.

Surprisingly, Davios actually provided some good advice. He suggested that she look into certain taverns, as well as areas in Low Town. Someone who could potentially commit crimes such as the one Nori vaguely alluded to would likely hang around those areas. It wasn’t much to go on, but it was all Nori had. Davios assured her that he wouldn’t mention it to anyone else, though he really didn’t seem that invested in the situation in the first place.

The nights following that conversation were long, since Nori spent them in the Low Town, looking for that mysterious woman. She was careful not to be too conspicuous, and to not ask too many questions - she didn’t want to tip off the woman that she was looking for her. This continued every night, but about a week after the ball incident, Nori was starting to lose hope. Looking for this woman was quite literally like finding a needle in a haystack, especially in a city as large as Lita.

She was drowning her sorrows at one of the taverns when someone passed her that caught her eye. It was a woman of similar build, same hair color, same paleness as the woman that she had seen on the balcony, even the heights were similar. Nori couldn’t believe her luck - she had finally tracked down this woman. She followed the woman out of the tavern into a nearby alley and took her chance

Nori pinned the woman against the wall of the alley, making sure her hands weren’t free. The woman tried to push Nori off but couldn’t, and instead settled on glaring at Nori instead. Her eyes were a dark brown, and she had under-eye bags, likely from a lack of sleep. This time, her hair was in two braids, but she had some bangs that left wisps of hair on her face.

“What do you want?” the woman asked. Nori couldn’t pin down her accent, but it wasn’t British.

“You stole from me,” Nori snapped, leaning in slightly. That part was true, but Nori was slowly realizing that she had gone into this without a plan. Why was she tracking this woman down? Was the dagger really that important?

The woman actually looked confused. “What? You must have me confused for someone else.”

“I was wearing a mask,” Nori pointed out. “So were you.”

“If I was wearing a mask, then how do you know it’s me?” the woman asked skeptically.

“You’re the only one that fits the description I have of the woman who actually stole from me at the masquerade ball. Who are you?” Nori asked.

“Steal what?”

“A dagger.”

The woman was thoroughly unimpressed. “Oh. I see.”

“You know you stole from the government as well.”

The woman shook her head. “I don’t have anything.”

“They’re looking for you, they know you stole documents. The question is, are you working for the Rebellion?” Nori asked, narrowing her eyes. When the woman didn’t answer, Nori continued. “Well, if you can’t tell me about that, at least tell me about my dagger since that’s not Rebellion business.”

The woman’s demeanor shifted and something - guilt, perhaps - crossed her face. “It’s not on me,” she said eventually.

“Well, I want it back.”

“It’s just a dagger. Get another one,” the woman said, shrugging best she could while she was pinned against the wall.

“Well, it’s mine,” Nori shot back as she leaned in even more, so their noses were almost touching.

“Are you deaf?” the woman asked. “I said I don’t have it.” As she finished her sentence, the woman pushed back against the wall. Nori wasn’t sure what she was doing until she felt the woman’s boot in her stomach.

She stumbled back but didn’t fall down, thanking her years of training. At this point, the woman realized that the alley was closed at one end, so if she wanted to leave, she needed to go through Nori. Of course, Nori really wasn’t sure what her plan was, but she didn’t want the woman to leave before she learned more.

Unfortunately, the woman charged at her, tackling Nori so they both fell to the ground. Nori broke her fall so she didn’t end up with a concussion and tried to get back up, but the woman was positioned in such a way that she couldn’t push her off. The only thing Nori could do was change tactics.

The woman pushed off of Nori’s body to stand up, which admittedly hurt Nori more than she would ever admit. As the woman passed her, Nori tried to grab her ankle but missed. She was gone before Nori could sit up.

“Fuck,” Nori muttered as she stood up. She was pissed that she lost her lead, and now the woman knew she was looking for her. However, Nori did have an advantage that would hopefully lead the woman back to her.

Although it was dark outside, the lights around illuminated the dagger in Nori’s hand, one of the intricately crafted daggers Nori had seen on the woman’s belt. It was child’s play to take one, and now Nori had one leg up in this battle of wits.

* * *

The dagger was fairly ornate, all things considered. On the hilt, there was a miniature bust of a woman, which Nori thought was truly unnecessary. There was a red gem underneath the hilt, and the dagger itself was made of mithral, which was an unusual choice in Nori’s opinion. Overall, the dagger was too valuable to be abandoned.

Or, at least that was what Nori had told herself when she first took it. She had proudly displayed it for the first few days after, hoping the woman would track her down and take it back.

But she never did.

The waiting game was not one Nori wanted to play. In fact, it was absolutely infuriating. How could she just let her take the dagger and not look for retribution at the very least? It was a conundrum that could drive one insane.

Which was how Nori found herself once again scouring taverns for the woman. She needed to find her again, needed to talk to her, or at the very least return her dagger and retrieve her own.

It took one more day to find the woman at the right tavern. She was sitting in a corner, her identifiable white hair a stark contrast to the black coat she wore. Nori walked over to the woman, who looked up at her and sighed. 

“It’s you again. What do you want?” she asked, not as angry as she was in the alley a few days ago.

“I came to return this,” Nori explained, placing the dagger on the table. “Seeing as I didn’t take my dagger back and took yours instead, I figured it’d be best if we traded back correctly.” 

“I know,” the woman said, taking a sip from her mug while Nori sat down across from her.

“You knew what?”

“That you took the wrong dagger. Your dagger, the one I took from you at the ball, is here,” the woman gestured to herself, but no specifics. Nori wasn’t sure where exactly she was keeping it.

Nori frowned. “Give it back.”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “Why should I?”

“Because then I’ll leave you alone.”

“I doubt that’s the case,” the woman scoffed. “You’ve already tracked me down twice now because you think...I don’t know, that I’m doing something wrong? Your intentions aren’t clear.”

“You stole from me and you work for that Rebellion, both of those are wrong things,” Nori pointed out. Why this bothered Nori so much was still something she was working out.

“I was contracted. My loyalty is to the money, not the cause,” the woman shrugged. “Plus, I’m glad I took that dagger from you. Otherwise, you would have killed me on that balcony.”

Nori rolled her eyes. “Not very noble of you,” she muttered.

“Noble? The people here know who you are, Ms. Lynch, government assassin,” the woman snapped.

“You know who I am?” Nori asked, taken aback.

“I asked around after you attacked me,” the woman said as she took a sip. “Besides, you’re a government assassin who is _also_ contracted. If money were no option, would you really stay there?”

“Would you?” Nori shot back.

“You didn’t answer my question,” the woman sighed. “It doesn’t matter, anyways. I’m not working for the Rebellion anymore. The ball thing was one job, so you can go tell that to your bosses now and leave me alone.”

“You do know that you would be arrested, right?” Nori pointed out. She had no intention of bringing the woman in regardless, but this was the first Rebellion member she had met and the first to be so casual with her attachment to the organization.

The woman rolled her eyes. “I’m not sticking around long enough to let that happen. I caught wind of a job off of Lita, so I’m headed there tomorrow.”

“A thieving job?” Nori asked.

“Not exactly. Thieving isn’t really my specialty - I hunt monsters,” the woman explained.

“Monsters?” Nori asked, surprised. “Then why did you take the ball job?”

“Money is money,” the woman shrugged. “Are you going to keep asking questions?”

“What type of monster?” Nori continued, which indirectly answered the woman’s question.

The woman sighed. “I guess that means yes. It’s big, I’ll tell you that.”

Nori waited for a minute for the woman to elaborate. “That’s it? You’re not going to tell me what it is?”

“I don’t need competition,” the woman answered as she finished her mug.

“I’m not asking as competition, I’m asking so I can help,” Nori said, the words spilling out of her mouth before she could think this through.

“What?” 

“I can join you,” Nori decided to double-down on the rash decision. She wanted to know more about the woman anyways, and it had been ages since she had left Lita. Besides, leaving the situation now would likely prevent anyone else from trying to drag her name through the mud.

The woman scoffed. “Absolutely not.”

“I’d take less than half,” she offered.

“Bold of you to assume I don’t need all the money.”

“But you might need backup.”

The woman shook her head. “I work alone.”

“That’s such bullshit, no offense,” Nori rolled her eyes. “What about...a quarter?”

“No.”

“A tenth?” Nori tried again.

The woman sighed deeply. “Fine,” she relented eventually, standing up. “Meet me here tomorrow morning, pack for a few weeks. I’m not going to wait long for you.” The woman explained as she turned away to leave.

“Can I have your name now?” Nori called out before the woman left.

The woman turned back around. “It’s Siofra Namuh.”

* * *

The next day, bright and early, Nori met Siofra at the tavern and the pair left Lita. Nori felt no need to tell her father or Davios the exact reason she was leaving town. If the government was worried about her absence, they should have treated her better earlier. Siofra was in no mood to talk, so they traveled in silence for most of the way. Nori learned that they were headed for a town south of Lita, but still fairly close.

“Are you going to tell me what we’re after?” Nori asked during lunch, in between mouthfuls of food. There was no need to have proper manners since they weren’t in the city anymore.

Siofra seemed to debate it for a moment, as she always seemed to do, before answering. “My intel suggested it was a manticore. We won’t know until we get closer, a lot of times monsters can be mislabeled because people don’t know what they are.”

“A manticore?”

“You know, the lion with wings with a face that kind of looks like a human.”

Nori shook her head. “I guess I’ll know it when I see it.”

“How have you never heard of one before?” Siofra asked, shaking her head as well. “City kids...”

“I guess you’re not from the city, then?” Nori suggested, hoping Siofra would open up.

Siofra stood up, brushing crumbs off of her lap. “We need to keep moving if we want to be in a good spot by nightfall.”

The rest of their travels followed a similar pattern. They would spend all day walking, Nori would make a pitiful attempt at small talk, and Siofra would either ignore it or give a very short answer. The other woman made it very evident that she did not want to talk about this with anyone, even though Nori was the only one with her.

When they arrived at the town where the manticore attacks started, Nori, who usually wasn’t one for conversation, actually enjoyed her small talk with the locals. To her surprise, they were actually grateful that someone had answered their plea about the manticore that had been attacking their town, and were very receptive towards Siofra. Several of the locals offered her food, drink, even places to spend the night. Siofra was uncharacteristically polite in turning the offers away, though she did accept some food and drink.

“We’re going to draw it out,” she told Nori quietly. “We’ll camp in the woods.”

The campsite was similar to all the other ones they had pitched, the only difference was that this time they had ample rations. Siofra shared her donations with Nori, so they feasted on bread, meat, and beer.

“Are you from here?” Nori asked.

“What?” Siofra frowned, her mouth still full from the bread.

“These people, they all gave you stuff. You know them, right?”

Siofra groaned after she swallowed her food. “I don’t know them.”

“Then why did they offer up all of these things for us?” Nori asked, confused. Most people in Lita wouldn’t be as giving. “Is it because we’re going to kill the manticore?”

“Sort of. I mean, I hope it’s because I’m going to kill the manticore, but I know that’s not true,” Siofra sighed, looking down. “People see me and they...pity me. I don’t...know why but I don’t like it,” she explained, being more forthcoming than she had been in days.

“But they gave you all that stuff?”

“I don’t deserve it,” Siofra scoffed. “I don’t know what they think I am but I’m not a charity case.”

Nori nodded. “I’m guessing this happens a lot.”

“Sometimes,” Siofra shrugged. “I usually turn the items away. I only take what I have to _if_ I need it.” While she was talking, she grabbed at a pendant around her neck. Nori had seen her do this before, and she usually did it when she was stressed.

Feeling braver tonight, Nori decided to finally ask about it. “What’s that?” Nori said, gesturing to Siofra’s pendant.

“Family heirloom,” Siofra explained.

“Is it magic?”

Siofra chuckled, the first time Nori had heard her do that. Maybe the beer _did_ have an effect after all. “No. It’s just a crystal on a string.”

“You and your family...close?” Nori asked cautiously.

Siofra hesitated but answered eventually. “We haven’t talked in a while. There’s...no bad blood but they understand why I left. You?” She asked, changing the subject.

“I’ve been training with my dad for years, he’s also an assassin. I’m the best and brightest and honestly I absolutely hate that everyone can say that I’m anything less because I’m a woman,” Nori vented, turning to Siofra. “You get it, right? The guys who think that you miss because of your feminine wiles or some bullshit, or they try to save you because they’re too weak.”

Siofra nodded. “I’ve had my fair share.”

“I wanted to be an assassin because that’s what I’m good at, but these men…” Nori sighed. “We were hired to intentionally mess up a job, but then we took the blame for it going sideways! Do you know how hard it is to _intentionally_ miss?”

“I do.”

“Then you’d actually understand how skilled I am, unlike those fucking idiots.” Nori leaned back against a tree, taking another swig of her beer. “Do you think I should stop?”

“Stop what?” Siofra turned, frowning.

“Being an assassin.”

“Oh, that’s none of my business,” Siofra started to turn away.

“Please?”

Siofra stopped midturn, groaned, and turned back to face Nori. “There’s no point of you being there if you hate it. If you can make better money elsewhere, do it. You seem smart enough to not die immediately.”

“I think that’s a compliment,” Nori smiled but frowned when Siofra didn’t respond. “What?”

“Do you see that?” Siofra spoke softly, staring in the distance to the left of Nori.

Nori turned but saw nothing. “See what?”

“Stupid humans and their tiny vision,” Siofra cursed, grabbing her sword from the ground. “Something’s coming.”

Unfortunately, Siofra was right. Just as Nori squinted her eyes to get a closer look, the monster - the manticore - charged from the shadows. Nori stood up quickly, grabbing her own weapons as the manticore and Siofra circled each other.

“Interesting,” the manticore spoke with a raspy, almost growly voice. “A human and a half-elf alone in the woods.”

“It can talk?!” Nori asked, wondering why this was the _one_ detail Siofra left out.

Siofra shook her head slightly like she was brushing off Nori’s comment. “Where’s your pride?” She asked, her voice calm yet threatening.

“I have no pride, I am as alone as you two are,” the manticore answered. “Half-elf, I have no interest in your flesh. Hand over the human and we can leave here without a fight.”

“You’d spare me?” Siofra asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Are you kidding me?” Nori asked at the same time. Was Siofra seriously considering the offer? 

She decided that she’d rather not wait to find out, so she attacked the manticore, slicing as close to where she assumed its heart would be. The manticore turned to face Nori but was immediately blocked by Siofra, who swung at it with her sword, successfully landing a blow across its face. Unfortunately, the manticore retaliated with blows of its own trying to claw and bite Siofra. Some of the blows landed, but Siofra didn’t stop fighting.

Nori realized she needed to do something before the manticore killed Siofra and subsequently her. She grabbed Siofra’s spare sword - the woman seemed to love sharp objects - and swung it at the manticore’s tail. The manticore let out an ear-screeching howl when the blow hit, distracted from trying to eat Siofra, who was now pinned to the ground. Nori continued to hit the manticore’s tail until the spiked tail swung at her, narrowly missing her face.

The manticore looked around between Siofra and Nori, who were both attacking. It seemed like the manticore decided this was all too much, so it spread its wings and flew away. Nori breathed a sigh of relief as she tried to help Siofra to her feet, but Siofra pushed Nori back instead. “You’re really fucking stupid, aren’t you?” she snapped, the angriest Nori had seen her.

“What?!” Nori snapped back. “You were going to let it eat me, and then it was going to kill you.”

“That was our _one_ chance to kill it and you blew it! I was fucking bluffing about letting it eat you,” Siofra exclaimed. “I knew I never should have brought you along, this has wasted my time and now I have nothing to show for it.”

“You’re blaming me? Really?” Nori rolled her eyes. “I saved your life!”

“I don’t need saving, I needed to kill the fucking monster, get paid, and move on with my life,” Siofra crossed her arms. “And now I need to fix this situation somehow so it doesn’t go back into that town and kill more people.”

“That’s what you’re worried about? For fuck’s sake it practically had its mouth on your throat. It’s not worth killing yourself over this,” Nori shrugged. It made sense to her - no use getting killed over some job. “You don’t even know those people.”

Siofra glared at Nori. “What do you think this is about?”

The question threw Nori off-guard. “Well, uh…”

“Those people are fucking counting on me, and yeah, I don’t know them or care about much, but that thing is going after them so I’m going to kill it,” Siofra exclaimed, her voice steady. “Maybe that doesn’t make sense to someone who thinks only about themselves and whether they should quit their job of killing innocent people.”Nori took a second to recover from that blow. “Well, I guess next time, don’t blame me if you fucking die, since that’s what you must want to do.”

Siofra’s expression was unreadable. “Maybe next time you should, but for now you need to leave,” she said eventually. 

Nori wondered if she hit a nerve, but wasn’t going to argue with Siofra anymore. “Fine,” she said, grabbing her bag from the ground, “this is a waste of time anyway.” She turned away, hoping Siofra would say something, anything, but the latter didn’t, only sitting by the fire instead.

* * *

Hours later, as Nori walked through the forest, she started to replay the conversation in her head. She knew she had been rash about attacking the manticore, but...it was a monster. It couldn’t be reasoned with, even if Siofra had been willing to try.

Not to mention the fact that Siofra had almost let it _eat_ Nori, as much as she denied it. Still, thinking about it later, Nori realized that she might have been rash in judging Siofra. If Siofra was going to let the manticore eat Nori, she might as well have never shown up to save the town in the first place. It didn’t make sense.

As much as their harsh words earlier acted like daggers, cutting up each other, Nori’s feelings for Siofra were the opposite. Siofra, as much as she seemed to want to be forgettable, was impossible to forget in Nori’s mind. There was something about her, something enigmatic that drew Nori in, and made her realize she didn’t even care about going back to Lita. 

She’d rather stay by Siofra’s side.

“Fuck,” Nori cursed, realizing the mess she had made. Siofra would probably still be pissed, and the manticore would probably eat _either_ of them.

The manticore.

Shit.

Nori didn’t know how long it took them to heal, but it would definitely be back for more, especially if Siofra or Nori were still in the forest. Frantically, she tried to retrace her steps, hoping that she wouldn’t find any of the horrible scenarios she had played out in her mind.

It felt like hours before she found the campsite she had abandoned, and the scene was thankfully not one of the nightmare scenarios she had come up with. However, it wasn’t much better - Siofra was fighting the manticore by herself. Amazingly, she was going a fairly good job despite being smaller than the beast. It looked like Siofra was going to win.

Out of the corner of her eye, Nori saw the manticore raise its tail, ready to strike again.

“Look out!” Nori yelled to warn her. Siofra turned to face her, taking her eyes off of the manticore. The manticore took notice of her distraction and slammed Siofra with its tail spike, sending her flying backward until she slammed into a nearby tree.

“Back for more, I see,” the manticore growled at Nori.

“Leave her alone,” Nori threatened, drawing her weapons. She had no choice but to fight the manticore now. 

It lept at her, its claws raised, likely hoping for a deadly blow, but Nori was faster, dodging with ease. Several of Siofra’s weapons lay astray on the makeshift battlefield, so Nori utilized them the best she could. The manticore continued to berate her while she fought back, calling her weak, and puny, and every bad name it could think of.

That only made Nori want to kill it more.

The manticore was in pretty bad shape and probably would have flown away already if Siofra hadn’t landed a blow on its wing, permanently grounding the monster. It had landed a few fair hits on Nori, but she would be damned if she was going to go down without a fight.

She reached for the only weapons she had left - two daggers - and plunged them into the eyes of the manticore. The manticore shrieked in pain as Nori did this, a terrible, human-like scream that Nori knew would likely haunt her later. It staggered away from Nori, taking the daggers with it before it finally collapsed on top of the extinguished fire. Nori approached it cautiously, checking it was dead.

When she confirmed that it was dead, she let out a sigh of relief and pulled the daggers out from its eyes. The daggers in her hands were the ones she and Siofra had stolen from each other earlier what felt like ages ago. As much as she wanted to, Nori couldn’t reminisce about that right now. She ran over to Siofra, who hadn’t moved since she landed. Nori checked Siofra’s pulse and was relieved that she was still alive. 

“What now…” Nori muttered, looking for Siofra’s pack among the mess of a campsite. Once she found the pack, she dumped all of the contents out, hoping for something useful in reviving her. The last item to tumble out was a small healing potion, which Nori was overjoyed to see.

She took the potion back to Siofra, positioned her so she was sitting up against the tree, and carefully poured it into her mouth. “Shit shit shit shit,” she cursed quietly. “Please wake up.”

It felt like forever, like Nori could have lived and died a thousand times over before Siofra opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, adjusting to the now-morning light, before turning her gaze to Nori.

“Hey,” she said softly, not at all angry. “Is it-”

“It’s dead,” Nori confirmed.

Siofra sat up, a small smile on her face. “Thank you,” she said softly, as Nori realized this was the first time she had ever seen Siofra smile.

Something overtook Nori. It could have been the near-death experience or the heat of the battle or that smile, but it didn’t matter when she leaned in and pressed her lips to Siofra’s. The kiss itself was over in a heartbeat, and Nori pulled away when she realized what she had done.

“I’m-” Nori started to apologize when she was interrupted by Siofra leaning in and kissing her back.

Eventually, they retrieved their weapons, showed the townsfolk they had defeated the manticore, and headed away to their next adventure. Nori contemplated going back to Lita, which Siofra had offered to, but she was happier here with her. There was nothing to prove, no one to try and impress, no orders to follow. She was finally free of all of it. As the pair walked down another path to the unknown, Nori smiled to herself. 

Even though Siofra had only set out to steal a dagger, she had stolen her heart as well.


End file.
